Door-to-door sales company to refund customers $113K after B.C. regulator’s investigation

A person knocks on a door in this image. (Credit: Shutterstock)

A company that makes door-to-door sales calls has agreed to refund roughly $113,000 to five customers after an investigation by a B.C. regulator.

Canadian Home Improvement Credit Corporation “sells and offers financing for household goods and services,” according to a statement from Consumer Protection B.C. explaining its recent investigation.

The statement doesn’t elaborate on what those goods and services are, but says the company enters “direct sales contracts” with its customers.

According to an undertaking CHICC signed with the regulator last month, Consumer Protection B.C. began investigating after it received several complaints about an Ontario-based debt collection company called “Solomon Jones LLP.”

The complainants told the regulator that Solomon Jones had demanded payments that were significantly higher than the amounts they owed to CHICC.

CPBC says its investigation of the complaints identified 53 consumers who entered contracts with CHICC that did not include a total contract price, which is required under B.C.’s Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act.

Of those 53 customers, nine had been contacted by Solomon Jones and five had made payments in excess of what they owed.

Because CHICC had hired Solomon Jones to collect debts on its behalf, the company was responsible for the debt collector’s actions, which the regulator alleged amounted to harassment.

In the undertaking, CHICC agreed to refund the five customers who overpaid, returning to them amounts ranging from less than $8,800 to more than $50,000. The total amount the company has agreed to refund is approximately $113,000.

It has also agreed to pay $21,206.74 to Consumer Protection B.C. to cover the cost of the regulator’s investigation.

The undertaking also requires CHICC to change its business practices, cancel certain contracts and remove any liens or charges created under those contracts, the regulator says in its statement.

“Consumers have a right to know the full cost of a contract before they sign and to be treated fairly when debts are collected,” says Louise Hartland, CPBC’s director of public relations, in the statement.

“This undertaking delivers meaningful remedies for affected consumers and requires important changes to CHICC’s business practices.”

The regulator also advises consumers who have contracts with CHICC to review them to determine whether a total contract price was disclosed.

If no total price is included, the consumer may be entitled to cancellation of their contract, according to CPBC.

“This case highlights risks that can arise when consumers enter financed direct sales contracts without clear information about the total cost,” says Hartland. “Upcoming changes to B.C.’s consumer protection laws will make at-the-door financing unlawful, and if it happens in our province, we want to hear about it.”